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History · Clinchport

Clinchport’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Clinchport was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1935 on, and the census since 1900.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Clinchport’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Clinchport began

When was Clinchport founded?

1888

The Clinchport post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Clinch River (1837), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 183 in 19002020 census: 64138 years
Founding year: the first Clinchport post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Clinchport’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 359 in 1950; 64 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Clinchport’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clinchport’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewClinchport Masonic Lodge No. 267, Secon…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Clinchport, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 359

Peaked at 359 in 1950; 64 people lived here in 2020.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Clinchport’s Wikipedia page.

The story so far

Clinchport, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clinchport yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Clinchport is a town in Scott County, Virginia, United States. The population was 64 at the 2020 census. Clinchport is the least-populated municipality in Virginia. It is part of the Kingsport-Bristol-Bristol, TN-VA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. Clinchport was named from its location on the Clinch River. Clinchport owes its small population to a severe 100-year flood event in 1977. After the natural disaster, local authorities incentivized residents to relocate to nearby communities with support from the Tennessee Valley Authority [1]. Today, few structur…

Its first post office opened in 1888. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 70 to 64 (-9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Clinchport, 1837 to 1979

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Clinch River post office opens
  3. 1888Post officeThe Clinchport post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Clinch River post office closes
  5. 20th century
  6. 1922Born hereJohn Robert Bell is born here
  7. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 359
  9. 1979Post officeThe Clinchport post office closes
By decade

Clinchport, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Clinchport Masonic Lodge No. 267, Second AvenueDate?Clinchport Masonic Lodge No. 267, Second AvenueKathleen S. Flanary House, Second AvenueDate?Kathleen S. Flanary House, Second Avenue
Today5 recent
Clinchport-houses-va2017Clinchport-houses-vaClinchport-buildings-va2017Clinchport-buildings-vaClinchport-Town-Hall-va2017Clinchport-Town-Hall-vaClinchport-RR-bridge-va2017Clinchport-RR-bridge-va2017-06-12 17 09 10 View north along Virginia State Route 65 (2nd Avenue) at U.S. Route 23, U.S. Route 58 and U.S. Rout…20172017-06-12 17 09 10 View north along Virginia State R…
On the map

Clinchport on the map, 1935 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Clinchport. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Clinchport on the 1935 USGS mapClinchport on the 1950 USGS mapClinchport on the 1969 USGS mapClinchport on the 1978 USGS map1935Clinchport sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Clinchport.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Clinchport Masonic Lodge No. 267, Second Avenue
Retake this viewClinchport Masonic Lodge No. 267, Second Avenue

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Clinchport’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Clinchport had its own post office from 1888 to 1979. Another post office, Clinch River, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Clinch River
1837–1894
Clinchport
1888–1979
18301930today
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Clinchport
GobblePridemore

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Clinchport’s history

What year was Clinchport founded?

The Clinchport post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.